RAPID: FULL ACCOUNTING OF PYROGENIC-C DYNAMICS AT THE WATERSHED SCALE: A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY OFFERED BY THE HIGH PARK FIRE

碳是所有植被的主要组成部分，也是土壤的有机成分。因此，为了在预计会发生更多火灾的未来预测野火对森林碳储存的影响，更好地了解碳的循环是至关重要的。该项目的重点是热源或黑碳及其相关的通量，这一成分在早期的研究中基本上被忽视。在火灾过程中，燃烧的碳的一小部分，可能高达总碳的10%，被转化为黑碳并储存在土壤中，在那里它可能在水中径流或保持储存。在许多易着火的生态系统中，黑碳占土壤有机质的20%以上。2012年6月，High Park Fire沿着北科罗拉多州的Cach la Poudre River烧毁了超过3.5万公顷的土地，在此过程中，创造了一个独特的机会，对从生产到沉积、储存和径流的黑碳动态进行全面的初始核算。该项目将确定High Park Fire产生的黑碳的产生率、其在侵蚀中的损失率与其在土壤中更深的积累相比、通过密集的水监测工作通过径流输出的黑碳以及沿河岸和河床沉积物的沉积。大火前后储存的沉积物和水样本将与下一年采集的新样本一起使用。最先进的方法将被用来准确地定量所有土壤、沉积物和水样中的黑碳。这将为更机械化地理解和模拟越来越容易起火的山区生态系统中的黑碳动态提供有价值的措施。在2012年的多次火灾之后，公众对其原因和后果比以往任何时候都更感兴趣。将在当地组织一个关于火灾、热源碳及其对水资源和气候变化的影响的公开小组。此外，该项目将开发一个调查项目，旨在吸引科罗拉多州前线牧场社区和科罗拉多州东部农村的中学生，其中包括大量西班牙裔人口。关于炭黑的一节课将被框定为法医侦探之谜，以确定火灾发生的地点和时间。学生们将分析样本以解开谜团，并引导人们讨论野火的原因和后果。将使用由科罗拉多州立大学的专家进行的前后测试来评估外联的有效性。

Carbon is the main building block of all vegetation, as well as the organic component of soils. In order to predict the effects of wildfires on forest carbon storage in a future where more fires are expected to occur, a better understanding of the cycling of carbon is therefore critical. This project focuses on pyrogenic, or black carbon and its related fluxes, a component that has been largely ignored in earlier studies. During fire a fraction of the burned carbon, perhaps up to ten percent of the total, is converted to black carbon and deposited in the soil, where it may runoff in water or remain stored. In many fire-prone ecosystems, black carbon comprises more than 20 percent of soil organic matter. The High Park Fire burned more than 35,000 hectares in June 2012 along the Cache la Poudre River in Northern Colorado and, in the process, created a unique opportunity to conduct a full initial accounting of black carbon dynamics, from production to deposition, storage, and runoff. This project will determine the rate of production of black carbon from the High Park Fire, its rate of loss in erosion compared to its accumulation deeper in soil, its export by water runoff through an intensive water monitoring effort, and deposition along river banks and in stream bed sediments. Stored samples of sediments and water from before and after the fire will be used along with new samples taken over the following year. State of the art methods will be used to accurately quantify black carbon in all soil, sediment and water samples. This will provide valuable measurements in support of a more mechanistic understanding and modeling of black carbon dynamics in mountain ecosystems increasingly prone to fires.After the many fires of 2012, the general public is more than ever interested in their causes and consequences. An open panel on fires, pyrogenic carbon, and their impacts on water resources and climate change will be organized locally. Additionally, the project will develop an inquiry project aimed at engaging secondary school students in Colorado Front Range communities and rural eastern Colorado, which includes a large Hispanic population. A lesson on black carbon will be framed as a forensic detective mystery to determine where and when a fire occurred. Students will analyze samples to solve the mystery and lead into discussions on the causes and consequences of wildfires. Effectiveness of outreach will be assessed using pre- and post-tests administered by experts at Colorado State University.